Headlamp Series: Darkness & Light - Horses & Trees
By Karen Adamson. On display in our Main Gallery, January 25 to March 11, 2021.
Artist Statement: Artist's Statement- Headlamp Series
This series is a depiction of feeding horses after dark in winter. The headlamp that is worn creates interesting effects by reflecting in the eyes of the animals and spot lighting the trees allowing for dramatic chiaroscuro. The horses and the trees belong to their world of night and cold. One enters this world with heavy clothing and artificial light, like an astronaut in space. The subject matter of animals and nature serves as a foil for human identity.
Horses are almost universally idealized. This is immediately apparent if one compares paintings of cows to paintings of horses. I tend toward attitudes that are not as flattering, like Degas' depictions of women bent over wash tubs or scratching and yawning, I believe this realism better represents their authentic beauty.
The photographic elements in some of the paintings are deliberate. I like the visual objectivity and the capturing of a transient moment. If a flash is used, I include the unnatural shadows that outline the forms. If no flash is used the image is dark and obscure with impressionistic areas of light.
Bio: Karen J Adamson attended the University of Manitoba Fine Arts program where she studied drawing and printmaking and majored in ceramics. She is self-employed as an artist and art instructor of ceramics, drawing and painting. Originally from Winnipeg, Karen began teaching art in 1994 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Since moving to South-Western Manitoba, she has taught with the Golden Prairie Arts Council, held workshops in her studio and adjudicated for the Central Region Juried Art Show. The therapeutic aspects of making art is a focus of her instruction.
Karen has had support from the Manitoba Arts Council in the form of project grants and as an instructor. Her work has been shown in galleries throughout the province and Winnipeg in group and solo exhibitions.